Best Places for Thanksgiving and Holiday Meals in Seattle

Like most great cities, there is no shortage of fine restaurants in Seattle. There is the restaurant atop the Space Needle that rotates as you eat so you can take in the panoramic view of the city, the mountains and city and lake and ferries and the Puget Sound. There is Pike Place Market and its little eateries and bakeries and fresh fish. There are many excellent Chinese restaurants, like The Garlic Tree downtown. They have sushi establishments, excellent Italian food, and so on; anything to be desired. But when it comes to Thanksgiving, you want certain hominess, a charm, tradition, comfort, a feeling, and a kind of food. Here are a few places that will satisfy your Thanksgiving cravings, in or around the Emerald City.

1. Just down the road from Seattle, a drive of thirty minutes or less, are Snoqualmie Falls and the Salish Lodge (which sits at the edge of the falls). While they were made famous, immortalized in the television series “Twin Peaks,” they offer more than star power. The restaurant at the lodge is a fantastic place to go for breakfast, or lunch and dinner, or wine and cheese. You sit and look over the falls, at the mountains and trees and river and clouds and mist that rises from the falls. The breakfasts are very elaborate, several courses, and they are delicious. The dining room is cozy and old. It seems cold outside, but it is perfectly warm inside. There's a fireplace. You can bring back their special oatmeal and pancake and waffle mixes, syrup, biscuits or gourmet coffee. It is a wonderful place to spend a holiday morning, day, or evening.

Additionally, they offer a Thanksgiving celebration. On Thanksgiving Day, in the dining room, from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., they offer the following menu:

Menu

Autumn Spiced Butternut Bisque
candied chestnut, caramelized apples, soft nutmeg crème

"Harvest Greens"
baby organic greens, vanilla poached pears, smoked salmon
toasted brioche, lemon chive vinaigrette

Whole Roast Turkey
yukon gold potato puree, winter vegetables, cranberry, currant and vanilla relish, herbed sausage and sage stuffing, old fashion turkey gravy